When Amazon tried a publicity stunt in which it sold Lady Gaga’s album Born This Way for 99 cents for two days last month, it may have had to swallow $3 million due to licensing fees it had to cover.

The New York Times cites a Billboard report that the album sold 440,000 downloads for the discounted price and concludes Amazon lost $3 million because it paid Universal the $8 or $9 wholesale price for each album. The wholesale figure came from the Times’ anonymous sources who were briefed on the deal.

If you partook of the offer, did you find the album was worth your buck? And do you think the publicity Amazon gained in the promotion was worth its loss?

In Lady Gaga’s Album, Evidence of a New Order [The New York Times via OK Magazine]

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